Those bloody questions
by Lady Snowflake
Summary: Rangers' sister asks him a question he'd rather not answer. This story is followed by More questions!.
1. Chapter 1

**Challenge #82: A question**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Title: Those bloody questions**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17) G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: Ranger's sister asks him a question he'd rather not answer**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for Aurelia… **

**Those bloody questions**

"Why?"

Now there is a question I didn't want to answer. First of all because it would normally mean that I have to say more than one word. Second, because it was asking for my motivation, and I like to keep the things that make me tick private.

"Come on! Tell me!" Mmm, she obviously wasn't letting go. How could I save myself from this one without having to give away too much information?

"Why do you want to know?" Mmm, that wasn't a smart move, because she would quickly realize it was just a distraction, and then her curiosity would only increase say… tenfold?

"I'm curious. I am always interested in your lovelife…" Then she gave a small snort.

"Or, as I am supposed to believe lack thereof" She gave me a 'yeah right' look.

"Come on, spill it!" How to get out of this one? Thinking back, how did I get myself into this situation?  
"Listen, you said so yourself, I am supposed to rest" I said while I tried to look as sick as I felt. It was a weak shot, but you never know.

"As your personal doctor I find you fit enough to answer this question" she shot back.

Okay, the plan to play on her guilt just went out of the window.

"Don't tell me you suddenly have lost your interest in the ladies!" She raised an eyebrow. I just gave her a look. She started laughing at that.

"Or are you getting more interested in guys?" She knew that that wasn't the case, but she couldn't resist baiting me.

"You know I prefer girls" I gritted out.

"Well then, give me the reason why you are no longer interested in all my single friends when you used to sneak into my room to copy their numbers from my diary"

I actually felt myself blush a little at that statement. That had been a long time ago, or at least it had felt like a long time ago.

"Come on Aurelia, let it go" I was trying the 'watch out, I'm getting annoyed' look now. I should have known better than to think it would scare her off. She was like a bloodhound on a trail.

"Oh no, Ricardo, you can look as angry or threatening as you want, you are not going anywhere until I hear an answer" She actually smiled at me, triumphantly when she added:

"Besides, as your doctor I ordered you to stay in bed, so you can't go anywhere without my permission anyway."

Here was the thing. I had been visiting my family for the birthday of my father, and I had gotten sick. Stop laughing, it is true. I hadn't felt 100 for a few days, but that didn't mean that I allowed some kind of bug to slow me down. However, the bug had decided to show its true strength, and at the end of the dinner I had started to throw up. There had been a lot of ladies on the party (friends of Aurelia) who had been more than willing to take care of me, but I had made it clear I was going to bed alone. About an hour after I went to bed, Aurelia (the dutiful doctor and my darling sister) had come up to check on me. She had asked me what was wrong. First I had tried to blame the dinner (there was some seafood in it, so I thought it was a safe bet) but she hadn't believed a thing. She simply had pulled out her kit, and with a quick movement she had pinned my head down and took my temperature with one of those ear things. Let's just say it was a dead give away. After some prodding and checking my throat she had simply said:

"You have the flu, and you should have been in bed 3 days ago. So now I am ordering you, as your doctor, to stay in bed for 5 days" When I started to protest she had held up her hands and said:

"No discussion" Hmm, we would see about that, but right now being in bed wasn't so bad. Actually, it was the only place I wanted to be right now. She already had her hand on the door when she turned around and had asked me the question (with a very mischievous grin) that had let to my current situation.

"So, which of my girlfriends should I sent up?" I had actually blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"Oh, come on, Ricardo. I know you are sick, but I have never seen you deny a beautiful woman who wants to take care of you" Oh, shit. This was not a discussion I wanted to have while my head was pounding and my muscles stiff from all the retching.

"Sorry, not tonight"

"They will be very disappointed, Ric. They were almost fighting to get a place beside you at dinner." Really, I hadn't actually noticed… guess the flu had made me sloppy.

"I just don't want that kind of thing anymore" Shit, that wasn't supposed to come out, because I knew her next question: why.

This explains how I got into my predicament, but I still didn't know how to get out. Aurelia had walked back to the bed and sat down. Truth was that if one _particular_ woman had been there, she would have been more than welcome. But my Babe was still at her apartment, unaware of my sickness (and I wasn't going to inform her that Batman got sick). However, I didn't want Aurelia to know that I was having serious feelings for a woman. I would never live it down, not with my reputation of womanizer. Besides, I didn't want my family start prodding in my personal life. They lived a little too close to my Babe to avoid any 'chance' meetings.

"Come on, Ric! Tell me why you are no longer interested in my friends. I know you slept with half of them!" Damn, I couldn't deny that. Suddenly her eyes got big and I feared her next words.

"Are you in love? Is that why you are no longer interested in a quick fix?" She looked at me, and I could see the wheels in her head come into motion.

"That's it, isn't it? You are in love! Oh, tell me, who is she, do we know her? Oh, I definitely want to meet the woman that managed to tame you!" I groaned.

"Aurelia! I didn't say I'm in love" But my words were wasted.

"Oh Ric, this is great! Why didn't you bring her? Tell me, who is she?" Not another question!

"Listen, I'm sick and I'm tired and I feel like shit. I am just not in the mood right now okay?"

"Mmm, really? I'm not so sure. I still think it's because you have finally fallen in love."

"Aurelia!"

"Hush, hush, darling brother, you're secret is safe with me. I will let the girls know you are too sick" She stood up again and walked towards the door. She opened it and just before she went through it, she smiled at me.

"Wow! Ricardo in love" she said softly, grinning. The pillow that I threw at her only hit the closed door. Damn, how could this happen. I didn't even say anything! With a deep sigh I turned onto my side and snuggled into the blankets. I felt too tired to think about this now. Tomorrow I would have to start thinking about how to do damage control. Right now, that was another question that I didn't want to think about.


	2. Chapter 2

**Story: Those bloody questions  
Chapter 2: Kind request**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17) G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: None in particular.  
Summary: Aurelia has a request for Stephanie… **

I didn't have any plans to continue this story, but I couldn't resist the requests I got. Many thanks for the nice reviews! Hope you like this second chapter! Please review!

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for Aurelia… **

**Kind request**

I was sneaking into Ricardo's room where he was sleeping like a baby. I grinned at myself; he had never seen it coming.

After one day in bed he had started to say that he was feeling much better now, and that he would go home and rest there. Yeah right, we all knew that as soon as he was out of our sight he would go straight back to work again. So I had worked up this little plan. I knew that I couldn't physically keep him in bed and to convince him to take some pills or a shot would not work, he would simply not allow me. I didn't feel like calling in our 3 brothers to hold him down, he wasn't _that_ sick that I wanted to risk his revenge. But I didn't like the idea of him starting work while he was still having the flu. So I had made a deal with him (or at least he thought so). I would allow him to go home without protest if he stayed in bed until after dinner and his temperature wouldn't be too high. You see, I knew he would drink this glass of healthy stuff after dinner and the taste of that stuff was eh… strong. So I had these sleeping tablets that he wouldn't taste at all, especially mixed up with that eh… liquid. And the plan had worked like magic. He always drank the glass in one go, hadn't done anything different tonight. Nobody had known about the tablets except for me, to limit the chance of getting caught. He was after all still an ex-Ranger, sick or not sick and he usually was pretty aware of his surroundings.

About half an hour after dinner I had gone up to check his temperature and to let him go (at least that's what he thought earlier tonight). I went into the room and he was sitting head slumped on the edge of the bed. He had obviously been walking around, getting his stuff together when the pills had started to take effect. He looked at me with dark eyes.

"What did you give me?" I didn't want to lie, I had no reason to lie.

"Sleeping pills."

"Why?" he growled at me.

"Because you aren't better yet, and we all know that once you leave this house you will be going back to work immediately."

"So?" Slightly pissed off.

"So I don't think it is healthy what you are doing."

"So?" Slightly more pissed off.

"So I don't feel like seeing if you can make this worse in stead of simply doing what your doctor asked you to do."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like to get a call in the next few days from a hospital to hear that you collapsed or worse, that a skip got to you because you were actually too sick to work but too stubborn to admit it."

"I can take care of myself."

"Sure you can, but right now I decided to take care of you, whether you like it or not"

"Well, I don't like it at all. You know I hate it when you drug me."

His speech was starting to sound a bit slurred. I couldn't help but smile, he was so cute sitting there on the bed in his black outfit, looking all pissed off with red cheeks of anger and fever while his eyelids where drooping. He was trying with all his power to fight the drugs, but I knew he would loose that battle. I learned from experience how much was needed to take him out.

"Come on, Ricardo, it's a lost battle and you know it. Take off your clothes and go to sleep."

"I don't want to." I laughed softly at that. Not many people got to see Ricardo whining. He shot me another dark look, but I wasn't afraid of him. I knew he would never hurt me, he was a big big softy when it came to his sisters. I walked to him, and started to pull his shirt over his head. With a deep sigh he relented and lifted his arms in the air so I could pull it off. I bend down and untied his shoes and took them off together with his socks.

"This is … getting … embarrassing." He slurred, but he didn't sound like it was bothering him too much at the moment. I pushed him back on the bed and started to pull his trousers off. He had closed his eyes, well on his way to dreamland.

Suddenly he stirred a little.

"Mmm… Babe… no…. rush." He chuckled softly. He sounded like his mind was somewhere completely different, like he was thinking something … erotic. Mmm, okay I was pulling his pants of him and I had drugged him, maybe he wasn't complete aware of his surroundings. I had finished with his pants and started to pull him so he would scoot over to the middle of the bed in stead of laying on the edge with his feet dangling over the side.

"Come on, Ricardo, work with me here. Move." He made a half assed effort to move further on the bed. I quickly pulled the blanket back and pushed him some more.

"Steph…. I … didn't…. mmm…" He was truly gone now, but I on the other hand was on full alert.

I had heard him mention the name Stephanie a few times in work related stories. She was also a bounty hunter and on occasion they worked together. I remember that Tank had said something about cars and things blowing up. I hadn't really paid attention. But after my little "discovery" yesterday night (okay, he never really admitted anything, but I still knew I was on to something by the way he responded) and Ric's words just before he went to sleep I was starting to wonder if this Steph woman might be the one that stole Ricardo's heart. After all, he called her "Babe", and for Ric that was a serious term of endearment. He had called my friends a lot during their (usually short) relationships, but "Babe" hadn't been on the list. Mmm, I was getting really curious about this woman and wondered if there was an item in the room that I could "accidentally" stumble upon to check my theory. Suddenly I spied his telephone which was lying on the bedside table next to his gun. Surely I would have to take his phone, he shouldn't be disturbed by it now that he was finally sleeping, right? I mean, I only took the phone with the best intentions, that should be clear. Glad we got that out of the way…

I was standing in the hall with the phone in my hand. Mmm, what to do next? I didn't want to "alarm" the rest of the family yet. Ricardo would seriously kill me if I would do that. It was bad enough that I had taken his personal phone from him without his knowledge. Setting the rest of the family on a possible trail of a girlfriend would be enough to make him come after me big time. And I couldn't really blame him; I knew he liked his privacy, probably because during his youth he had had no privacy at all. Living in a Cuban family house with grandparents, parents and 6 children was just like living in a small village. At the door you liked a girl, at the back of the house you were engaged to be married. Ricardo had more than once cursed it, especially when he became a teenager and got into trouble regularly. I don't think he was able to hide one thing he had done, and lots of times things were blown out of proportions. And I don't need to explain to you how lots of his girlfriends never returned after one visit to the house. Dinner with our family was quite an experience. I smiled, I sort of liked our family culture, but I had never been on the receiving end of the negative side as much as Ricardo. Being the eldest simply draws more attention to you than being number 4. I think a large part of his decision to go into the army was to enable him to get away from the house, from the gossip and continuous pressure on him. And he had done well in the army, and even better after he came out. But he had kept everybody at a distance since then, choosing to live in a different part of town, working long hours and not visiting as much as our parents would have liked. Despite that, our mother still adored him and our father had great respect for his achievements. And I secretly suspected that Papa was jealous that Ricardo had managed to escaped the madness while our mother still loved him.

I startled out of my daydreaming when Ricardo's phone started ringing. Oh shit. What now. The display showed "Babe calling". Double shit. Dilemma, dilemma. Quick, decision time before it went to his voicemail. I pressed the green answer button and said tentatively:

"Hello?"

"Eh… Hello?" The women sounded slightly surprised. No wonder, she probably had expected Ricardo to answer the phone.

"How can I help you?" Always be polite right?

"Sorry, but who are you?" She sounded a bit irritated. Hang on, if he liked her and she liked him, than a strange woman answering his phone might make her think the wrong thing. Quick, got to fix it!

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Aurelia Manoso, Ricardo's sister" Oops, I just realized I didn't even know if she was actually the Stephanie that I suspected Ricardo liked so much. If it was just another of his "acquaintances" I would love to pretend for once that I was his new girlfriend to scare them off. Serve him right!

"Oh, I see" Silence.

"And you are?"

"I'm Stephanie" Yes! Babe is Stephanie. I was right.

"Can I help you?"

"I was calling Ranger." Well duh, that was to be expected.

"He can't talk to you right now. He is sick." Let's see how she responds to that, see if she is worried about him.

"What's wrong with him?" Was it my idea, or did I hear worry in her voice. Yes, I was sure she sounded worried.

"He has the flu."

"Oh, I see" Silence.

"Will he be alright?" I smell an opportunity to play matchmaker here… I know, he's going to kill me, but still… He just doesn't know what is right for him!

"Well, he will be fine in a few days, but he actually needs someone to take care of him for the next 3 days."

"Oh, uh huh." Come on, lady, take the bait!

"I would do it myself, but I am really busy at the moment and I know that Ricardo would prefer to go home as well. You see, he got sick at our parents house. So uh, are you free the next couple of days?"

"Well eh, maybe, eh, I could help" Yes, finally! No wonder they weren't together. Both of them were way too careful. Yes, this all started to make sense to me now. They were probably madly in love for years now and both of them too scared to tell the other one. I knew I had to help them, I could feel it calling me! Okay, so I get a little carried away occasionally, but doesn't everybody want to give love a hand?

"If you wouldn't mind? It would really help us out." No need to tell her yet that Ricardo had no idea about this.

"But is Ranger okay with this?" Mmm, okay, she knew him well probably. Time for a little improvising.

"Well, he said he really wanted to go home. Why don't you come by, so I can explain things to you and then you can drive him to his house tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?" Okay, the girl could read between the lines!

"He uh, he is sleeping right now, but uh, I've got an important meeting tomorrow morning, so I'd rather explain to you tonight." Come on girl, just get yourself here so you can see him sleep like a baby and I can get my plan going!

------------

Where the hell was this conversation going? Sure, I was a little worried hearing Ranger was sick, but it didn't sound too serious. And why did I have the distinct feeling that his sister wasn't telling me the complete truth about this situation. I mean, if the man wanted help, wouldn't he have called me himself? Sure, the idea of taking care of Ranger woke up some nice feelings so I wasn't against it, but I didn't want to do something that Ranger didn't want me to. He had enough friends to take care of him. But then again the idea of getting to spent 3 days with him was very appealing… wait, maybe his sister would tell me where the Batcave was… Oh, what to do, what to do!

"Okay, I'll come over. What is the address?" Did I just agree to take care of Ranger for 3 days without even knowing what was going on exactly and if he actually wanted me there? But who could say no to the request of taking care of Ranger, I mean we're talking about Ranger here!

Oh shit, nothing good could come from this!


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: Those bloody questions!  
Chapter 3: Sleeping beauty**  
**Author: Ann **  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: None**  
**Summary: Stephanie meets Rangers family**  
**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine except Aurelia, I just play with them**

**Huge thanks to all the lovely reviewers! Thanks for waiting! Hope you like this one. It is a bit short, but more to come. Review please!**

**Sleeping Beauty**

I was driving my car to a neighbourhood that was new to me. Aurelia, Ranger's sister, had explained to me how I could find the family house. I couldn't help but feel extremely curious. I was about to see where Ranger grew up and meet some of his family. Mmm, family… Oh SHIT! FAMILY! His parents could be there! And how would I introduce myself? Hi, I'm Stephanie, a colleague of Ranger… Mmm, I wasn't exactly a colleague… Hi, I'm Stephanie, I'm going to look after your son… No way that I would ever say that! Hi, I'm Stephanie, I'm a friend of Ranger… Mmm, sounded okay. Nice and neutral. Oh, hang on, he probably wasn't called Ranger there, I think his sister called him Ricardo. Okay, a little practise: Hi, I'm Stephanie, I'm a friend of Ricardo… Hi, I'm Stephanie, I'm a friend of Ricardo… Hi, I'm Stephanie, I'm a friend of Ricardo…

"Hi, you must be Stephanie, Ricardo's girlfiend." What! How did that happen?

"No no, Ran…Ricardo and I are just friends." Shit shit shit! I guessed it was Aurelia that had answered the door, but I wasn't sure.

"I'm Aurelia, please come in." She smiled like she didn't believe one bit about Ranger and me just being friends… I seriously hoped Ranger would never find out about this conversation, my life would be in danger!

"Let me introduce you to my parents and brothers and sisters." Eek! The whole family was here! Quick, check my hair, straighten my clothes!

"Everybody, this is Stephanie, Ricardo's…"

"Friend!" I squeaked quickly before I once again could be introduced as Rangers girlfriend. I looked around me. I saw an older couple sitting next to each other on a large couch, and several people were scattered around the room. Also, I spotted some children playing in a corner and I heard a cat meowing. Oh my, I was never going to remember all these names.

"Hi." I said to everybody and tried to smile and look nice.

"Hi, I'm Javier, Ricardo's brother." He was really good looking, I guessed about 5 years younger than Ranger.

"Hi, I'm Cora." Sister, around the same age.

"Hi, I'm Ariel." Brother, same age.

"Hi, I'm Vera, partner of Cora."

"Hi, I'm Clarisse." Sister, younger than Ranger.

"Hi, I'm Judith, I'm the wife of Javier, and the oldest boy there is Sam, our son"

"The other 2 kids are from Vera. The boy's name is Marcus and the girl's name is Sofia."

This came from Aurelia. I was dazzling with names, and couldn't say for sure who was who apart from Aurelia. Then the older lady got up and walked towards me. She grabbed my hand and placed it into both her hands.

"Hello dear, my name is Juanita. I'm Ricardo's mother. And that wonderful man there is Carlos, Ricardo's father. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." Eh, finally? She had definitely something mischievousness in her smile, and I instantly realized where Ranger got his wonderful smiles from.

"Nice to meet you, you have a wonderful house." Burg upbringing.

"Thank you, dear."

"Now, let me take you to Ricardo," Aurelia said. I felt myself blush a little at that, I don't even know why. It sounded like we belonged together naturally. Javier chuckled and opened his mouth to say something no doubt embarrassing for me, but a firm look from Juanita made him swallow his words. I smiled thankfully at her and followed Aurelia out of the room and up the stairs. The house was large, but looked homey and friendly. It was painted in warm colours of yellow, red and greens and had a lot of natural light coming in through windows. On the top of the stairs was a long hall with several doors. Aurelia poked her head around the third on the right and smiled at what she saw. She motioned for me to come and I walked towards her, feeling very nervous suddenly. Ranger was a light sleeper, trained to wake up at any and all sounds and to be ready to fight. I had no idea what his reaction would be to me being there. Probably not too good. But Aurelia seemed very confident, because she started speaking to me.

"Come on, Ricardo sleeps here." Oh dear God, just kill me now, because he is surely awake now.

"Eh, I don't want to wake him up…" Lame, I know, but I had the feeling that as long I didn't really see him, I hadn't been here and this wasn't real.

"Oh, no worries darling, he won't wake up." Mmm, she sounded very sure.

"Why?" Aurelia smiled the same smile as her mother and Ranger.

"I drugged him, he'll be out for another couple of hours." Wow, she's got guts!

"You drugged him?"

"Yep, he's out like a light. Come on!" Okay then, here I go.

I stepped into the room and stopped as soon as I saw him. He was lying on his stomach and he had kicked down the blankets to his waist. The muscles in his back were looking very masculine and I spotted the top of his black boxers. His left foot was sticking out from under the blanket and his arms were laying on each side of him, bent at the elbow, hands next to his head. His face was turned towards me. His hair was loose, lying on the pillow. He looked adorable, cute, sweet, wonderful, sexy and still incredibly dangerous. I felt a warm feeling rise in me. I slowly walked towards him and knelt down before him. My hand got a life of its own and it went through his hair. He felt warm but nice.

And then he opened his eyes...


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: Those bloody questions!  
Chapter 4: Love is in the air**  
**Author: Ann **  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: None**  
**Summary: Ranger wakes up but isn't quite there yet… ;) **  
**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine except Aurelia, I just play with them**

**Another short one, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for too long:)**** Hope you like it, more to come soon! Please review! **

**Love is in the air**

As soon as I opened the door for Stephanie, I knew she was the one for Ricardo. She had spunk, wild hair and very blue eyes. Yes, this was his match. I knew now that my choice to hook them up was the right one. (Not that I am ever wrong, but it is nice to see your instincts confirmed) I had told the family very little about who was coming, but just enough information that most of the women could read between the lines. The men probably really thought that it was just "a friend" of Ricardo. Although, Ricardo hadn't brought anybody home for years, so even if it was just "a friend" it sparked interest, because Ricardo always only took the most beautiful women home. Yes, he had set a high standard for us.

To test her, I had answered the door with "you must be Ricardo's girlfriend". The immediate opposition told me that Ricardo had not yet acted on his feelings towards her. Jeez, I know the guy is smart, good looking and incredibly well trained, but he is absolutely clueless when it comes to feeling. Really amazing if you consider the amount of women who fell for him (read: every women and girl within a 5 mile radius of all the places where he has been). My theory is that all these women made it actually too easy for him to connect with his feelings. Sure, I know from friends that he is an amazing lover (eeuw, didn't really wanted to know that, but still) but he never really fell in love with someone. In the couple of years he has started to slow down a little. Not that he really had a different woman every weekend, but he wasn't a hermit either. But now, he hasn't even been looking at women. It is actually really funny when you go out with him. In the "old days" he would walk in, scope the place out, pick a few women he liked and the "winner" would get to take him home. Now he walks in, every woman notices him and he is completely oblivious. They keep fighting (and believe me, I have now seen every trick available on this planet to "accidentally" get into contact with someone) but he has absolutely no idea. I am sure that Stephanie is responsible for this change. Yes, they are meant to be together.

After putting her through the family introductions I decided to take her upstairs and see how she would react to Ricardo sleeping. Ricardo always sleeps with one eye open, but when you drug him, he sleeps like a baby. He is adorable then. When I opened the bedroom door he had moved himself into a perfect position really, showing a nice amount of body. I motioned Steph in, but she seemed hesitant. Oh yeah, she didn't know that I drugged him. When I told her, she moved in and immediately stopped. I observed her face as the emotions were very clearly showing. I don't know if she knows this, but her face shows more then words could ever express. She softened up, her eyes lit up with joy of seeing him, with worry about his condition and with passion. I could feel a tear forming in the corner of my eye. Wow, they would make an incredible couple. Her fire with his coolness, his composure with her impulse… Image their children! Mmm, okay, that might be a little bit too optimistic yet, but still… We all have dreams. She slowly walked towards him, I was obviously completely forgotten. Her hand slowly touched his hair and she seemed to relax completely.

And then he opened his eyes!

It actually took a minute to register with me. Steph froze immediately. Oh shit! How was this possible, he was supposed to be out until much later. I had no idea what he would do. He would probably torture Steph for information and then kill me for what I had done. Oh well, if I have to die, then at least it was for a good cause.

"Babe." He sounded slightly surprised and still not completely awake yet.

"Ranger." Ah, he still used his streetname, tough guy.

He smiled at her sleepily. Yep, he was obviously not awake yet. If he was awake she would have been on the floor now with him on top (and not for any sexual reasons, mind you!) He looked over her head and saw me. I could see that he was realising that something wasn't right, but his brain was still too sleepy to put the pieces together.

"Aurelia" he said very friendly. That would change soon enough.

"Ricardo, how are you feeling?"

"Mmm… Fine." He still slurred his speech a little. He started moving, turning himself on his back. Steph looked at him, but was still frozen in place. She probably waited for hell to break loose. Oops, his gun was still lying on the night stand.

"You look… really…. nice, babe." Stephanie seemed to choke. Probably he never made those kinds of compliments.

"You… always…. look nice,… babe." Wow, he was definitely still sleeping, only his eyes were open. Do I smell an opportunity here to get him to talk about his real feelings? Yes!

"Eh, thanks." Come on Steph, do something.

"You are… the… prettiest woman… ever." Oh my God, where is a camera when you need one! Even from the distance I could see Stephanie blushing furiously. Cute.

"Ranger, are you okay?" Oh shit, don't say anything that can alert his brain, Steph!

"I'm sick… Aurelia said… so." I couldn't help but smile.

"Oh." Very eloquent.

"Are you… going to… take… care… of me?" Yes, yes, yes, this is good! Steph turned her head towards me, looking clueless. She mouthed to me 'what did you give him?' I just smiled at her and mouthed back 'just sleeping pills'. Then I nodded my head to encourage her to answer Ricardo.

"Eh, if you want me to…" Oh, come on, a little more confidence girl! Sell yourself!

"I have… fantasies… about you… taking… care of me…" He sounded… turned on? Eeuw, he is still my brother! He closed his eyes again, turning on his side. He appeared to have fallen asleep again. Slowly, Steph got up and started to walk away from him.

"Don't leave… me." Oh, this was just too sweet.

"I'll never leave you." Steph whispered these last words, and to me it sounded like both of them were talking about more than just tonight. I was obviously forgotten, but I didn't mind, it looked like things were working out just fine. Steph knelt down again next to the bed, and Ricardo opened his eyes and gave her a small sleepy smile. This time she smiled back.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: Those bloody questions!  
Chapter 5: Chit chat**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: None**  
**Summary: Aurelia continues her plan to bring Steph and Ranger together… **

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine except Aurelia, I just play with them**

**Another short one since I have to start cooking, but I'll try to continue tonight or tomorrow. Please review! **

**Chit chat**

Phew! That was the first thing that went through my mind when Ricardo closed his eyes again. His breathing became slow and regular, he was really sleeping again. Mmm, would be interesting to see what he remembered when he woke up later tonight. According to my planning he should sleep until about 10 pm, and then Steph could take him to wherever he wanted to go. Although, it would be nice to have both of them here, so I could keep an eye on how things were developing between them. Mmm, maybe I could come up with an excuse to keep her here, just for the night. You see, the family house is big, but it isn't a hotel. And with Dad's birthday, we all had come home for the weekend. Most of us lived in the area, and all of us would be staying the night in our respective rooms. And dear oh dear, no room left! What a pity! More like perfect… This was excellent. If I convinced Steph to stay the night, I would _later_ tell her that she had to sleep in Ricardo's room. The only problem would be to convince Ricardo to stay, but maybe the added incentive of having Steph sleeping next to him might make him accept. Yes, my plan was forming itself in my mind. I would tell Steph that, as a doctor of course (I am a professional), I thought it would be better to keep Ricardo here for the night, and have her watch him. I would eh… let's say inform her _thoroughly_ of the risks of transporting Ricardo. That in my professional opinion it would really be better to keep him here, just for the night. Of course this would really be my professional opinion as a doctor… of love. But hell, who would know. Ricardo can thank me on his wedding day! Also, I might "forget" to inform Stephanie that I will leave really early tomorrow morning, and feel it is my duty to check upon them… eh him. Did anybody tell you that I am good?

After a few minutes in which Stephanie had kept stroking Ricardo's hair while he was sleeping again, she got up and looked down at him with a wonderful soft smile. Then she seemed to finally realise first of all _what_ had been said, and second of all, that there was a witness to this event. She turned around and looked at me with huge eyes. I smiled reassuringly to her.

"No worries, your secret is safe with me."

"Eh, thanks." She looked a little bit relieved. I decided to stir things up a little again.

"Ricardo is never good at expressing his feelings, but I'd say the sleeping pills worked wonders." Steph immediately blushed again. Wow, this girl could change colour faster than a chameleon.

"I don't think he knew who he was talking to." Was it me, or did she sound a little bit disappointed?

"Oh, I think he knew perfectly well what he was saying. I think he meant every word of it." For a moment I saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Okay, enough teasing.

"Listen, he will be asleep for a couple of hours now. Why don't you stay the night and you can take him home tomorrow morning, when I am sure he will be okay?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude on his privacy." Wow, he had her well trained on that privacy problem of his.

"Oh no, it is no problem at all, you have seen that the whole family is here, another person really doesn't matter. Besides, you can keep an eye on Ricardo. I mean, it is just the flu, but he has been walking around with it a little longer than necessary. That can have nasty side effects." This wasn't a total lie, but someone as healthy as Ricardo really wasn't in the high risk category. I just guessed that Stephanie wouldn't know.

"You think that that is necessary?"

"Well, I think it is never a bad idea."

"Well, if it really isn't a problem… Oh, but I have nothing with me, no toothbrush or clothes or anything." Oh dear, you are way to practical girl! True love is staring you in the face and you start talking about things like clothing? Can't you feel the luv?

"No problem, you can borrow something of me and I'm sure we can find you a towel, toothbrush and some soap." For some reason she suddenly blushed again. Since when is soap a sexual item. Wait, let's not go there when it is my brother were talking about. I mean, one of my girlfriends once said he was 'sex on a stick, walking around on two incredibly fine legs and a body to die for'. Guess he pleased her well enough!

"Okay then, I guess." Yes, another success.

"Come on, let's go downstairs again." Immediately her eyes turned huge again. Okay, the family all together can be a bit frightening. I just hoped that they would keep the teasing down to a minimum, it could scare her off.

Downstairs all eyes rested upon Stephanie again. Curiosity filled the eyes from the women and lust those of the men. Yep guys, Ricardo has picked another stunning beauty. Take that! Steph seemed unaware of all the silent communications going on, and slowly walked towards a chair when the kitten of our parents came running towards her and jumped up and attached herself to her jeans.

"Oh, hello there." Stephanie removed the kitten from her leg and held it in her arms. The kitten was actually a present from Ricardo. Nobody knew how he had gotten the kitten, but one day he had dropped it off at our parents' house. My mother was delighted, they had lost their cat about a year ago, and she had been talking about getting a new one. It was a funny kitten, it's fur was wild with both long and short patches and it had all kinds of colours. The eyes were a deep blue, matching Stephanie's. The kitten looked up at Stephanie and she smiled at the kitten and gave it a little kiss. Aww, a new friendship formed! It also broke the ice a little, and soon the conversation flowed easily. When she told them that she occasionally worked for Ricardo on distraction jobs, you could see the guys forming a mental image of Steph in something sexy. The women were more interested in how Ricardo was as a boss, but we soon found out that her stories were not the same stories that we heard from his other employees. Tank, Lester and Bobby were regular guests here. Knowing looks were exchanged between the women. Yes girls, this is the one!


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: Those bloody questions!  
Chapter 6: Wake up!**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: None**  
**Summary: Ranger wakes up… **

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine except Aurelia, I just play with them**

**Another chapter has miraculously appeared on my screen! ;) Please review! **

**Wake up!**

Steph did have to endure some teasing when they found out that she was the one with all the destroyed cars. She took it quite well, probably wasn't the first time that she had to hear that… But time flies by when you're having fun, and around 10.30 pm the door of the living room opened. A still slightly sleepy Ricardo stood in the doorway, wearing only his boxers. However, I immediately saw the look in his eyes and knew that he was awake enough to remember about the drugging. He quickly searched the crowd and his eyes landed on me.

"Aurelia!" Oops, here comes trouble. Luckily he wasn't armed.

"Ricardo, sleep well?" I asked innocently. I was going to die anyway, better do it gloriously right?

"How dare you! You know I didn't want to stay here, you said I could go home!" That would be correct. Bad, bad me, I lied to my brother!

"I told you to stay in bed for 5 days, you were obviously not planning on listening to me, so what was I to do?" This sounded very innocent, and I knew it would infuriate Ricardo. You see, if you pushed his buttons correctly, it was really easy to make him loose that famous cool composure of his. He could whine with the best of them, but that seemed to be the best kept secret! It appeared that Ricardo hadn't spotted Stephanie yet, because she was sitting on the couch next to my mother. Mother is eh… a full figured woman and she easily hid Stephanie behind her. I had caught my mothers' eye, and she knew what I was up to. I was trying to show Stephanie that Ricardo really was a normal human person. By the look on Stephanie's face, I'd say it was working. And Stephanie so far had made no move to show Ricardo that she was here. Probably she feared for her life. Macho man… But there was another thing that I hoped would happen. You see, this kitten that Ricardo brought home, it sort of followed Ricardo like a little dog. As soon as Ricardo's car would stop in front of the house, it would start meowing and it would follow Ricardo everywhere around the house, insisting on sleeping either on his bed or in front of his bedroom door if it got the chance. Ricardo was quite fond of the kitten himself (he was the one who named it Lily) and he would always carry it around the house, play with it and occasionally allowed it to sleep in his bed. (He really _is_ a big softy, I tell you!) I didn't have to wait long, the kitten jumped off Stephanie's lap and ran to Ricardo, meowing like her life depended on it.

"Look, you upset Lily!" Wow, he must still have some of that sleeping stuff in his veins, because otherwise those words would have never left his lips. All eyebrows in the family shot up. Ricardo picked Lily up and cuddled it to his chest and then looked at us again, seeing all the raised eyebrows. He realised what he had said and actually blushed. Stephanie's eyes were growing with the minute.

"Wow, Ricardo, you are getting soft!" This came from Javier, who would never let an opportunity to tease pass him by.

"Shut up. Now Aurelia, I want to leave, so when can I drive again? What kind of stuff did you give me anyway, I had some really weird dreams. I thought I wasn't supposed to dream when I was knocked out!" Ooh, this is getting good!

"What did you dream then?" See if he bites.

"Eh, nothing… " Yeah, right. More meaningful glances exchanged between the family.

"I don't think it is a good plan for you to drive tonight. But…"

"What? You drugged me and now I have to spend another night here? How dare you, I have a business to run. I have responsibilities, I have to… to do things!" Wonder what those things would be. Maybe related to Stephanie? Let's test him a bit further.

"Maybe you can call someone to look after you for tonight?"

"No way. Tank, Lester and Bobby are all extremely busy because I am out of order."

"How about that other woman, you know, the one that worked for you?. Eh… Jen.. Jeanne Ellen?" Okay, this was low, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to see his reaction, to have her see his reaction. Immediately Ricardo's eyes turned guarded and he focused his attention completely on me.

"You know damn well that I don't work with her anymore!" Nobody knew exactly what happened between them, but suddenly all contact had stopped and Ricardo became angry even when just her name was mentioned.

"Sorry! I just remembered that you occasionally told some stories about her, and I think that the care of a woman could benefit you." That had a double meaning, and he realised that immediately.

"Don't try to fix me up! I can take care of myself!" he practically growled at me.

"He, I'm just trying to help here! She could be your ticket out of here since you so obviously are in a hurry to leave…" Oooh, I am soooo good! Half of the family was turning almost purple trying to keep from bursting out laughing. Stephanie looked like she wanted to kill me. No worries girl, it will all turn out right. The kitten had been quiet as soon as Ricardo picked it up, but it seemed scared now. It started wriggling and moving and meowing in a very cute way. Ricardo seemed to realise how much he had lost control and fixed his attention on Lily again. He cuddled it to him and murmured some Spanish words to it. Lily lifted her head up to him and they looked each other in the eye. Ooooh, such a wonderful picture that would have made, if only I had a comera! Lily quieted down again and snuggled up to him. He gave her a little kiss and then looked at us again. He suddenly changed and his senses seem to go on full alert. Oh shit, did he see Stephanie?

"Eh… did someone visit tonight?" Would he be remembering the dream/reality?

"What do you mean?"

"Did someone visit tonight while I was asleep?" He started to sound anxious.

"Who would that be?"

"Oh, for God's sake, how difficult is this question? Did someone visit, yes or no?" And this was when Stephanie took matters in her own hands. She slowly got up and their eyes met. Ricardo seemed baffled for a few seconds. Their eyes were locked on each other and you could see Ricardo's brain working overtime.

"Yes, Ranger, someone did visit tonight," she said softly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Title: Those bloody questions!  
Chapter 7: More questions!**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: None**  
**Summary: Stephanie asks Ranger some questions**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine except Aurelia, I just play with them**

**More words appeared on my screen! Hope you like it. Please review! **

**More questions!**

Ricardo and Stephanie both stood frozen for what seemed like a long time. They just kept looking at each other. Ricardo was trying to put the pieces together in his memory and Stephanie seemed a bit apprehensive about his reaction once he put the pieces together. After a while Ricardo opened his mouth to speak.

"Follow me." Okay, this was really not what I had expected. Now I wouldn't be able to eavesdrop! Damn!

Ranger left the room and went up the stairs. I didn't think that I had any other choice but to follow him. I had no idea what went on in his head at this moment. I had no idea if he was angry or upset, or maybe his memory was playing tricks and he remembered something completely different from what happened. But for some reason that didn't seem likely. Ranger usually could distinguish between reality and fiction. Mmmm, I was in a way really curious as to what he would say. Probably something like: 'we'll never talk about this again'. That seemed like him. We went into his bedroom and he went to sit on the bed. I opted to stand next to the door. Always handy to have an exit nearby…

"Tell me what happened." That wasn't a fair question, because I had no idea if we were at all talking about the same thing or not.

"What do you remember?" I asked quietly. He looked long and hard at me, and then down at the kitten that he still held in his arms.

"I remember…" He gave a deep sigh.

"I remember you." Okay, that didn't help much.

"That's right, I was here. Aurelia asked me to come by to pick you up." Better divert his attention a little bit away from me.

"Why?"

"She said you were sick and needed someone to look after you."

"Right." Okay, he wasn't in a talkative mood, actually he never seemed to be a talkative person, but I just didn't want to let this go by like nothing happened. I had realised that my feelings for him went a little further than just some fling or physical attraction. I was falling deeply in love with him, and I wanted to know his feelings. I knew he said that his 'lifestyle didn't lend itself to relationships' but I was feeling that that was just an excuse. I was willing to compromise. I mean, hey, my life isn't exactly routine either! He would have to endure many calls about blown up cars and blotched up jobs. I had broken up with Morelli months ago, after I had realised that first of all we simply didn't work as a couple and second of all that I was falling in love with someone else. That someone was sitting in front of me, cuddling a very cute kitten. He had once insinuated that he would pursue me if I would leave Morelli, but so far nothing had happened. Well, nothing other than some heated kisses in the ally, some late night visits and some hot glances. But to be honest, that wasn't out of the ordinary for us. I had no idea how he felt about me. I thought it would be a safe bet to say that he at least liked me, since he spent time with me. He led a busy life, so his personal time was valuable. If he chose to break in at my place, I thought it was safe to assume that he did that because he liked to spent time with me. And he had slept with me, even if it was part of a deal. The night itself hadn't felt like he was just collecting. It had been wonderful. He had waited weeks before he collected, weeks in which he seemed to test if I would be really okay with it. And I was. But now I missed him even more at night. I wanted him, even his dark side if there was one.

"What else do you remember?" His head snapped up, he realised where I was going. He looked long and hard at me. I was hoping that his ESP would pick up on my need to discuss this. That it was time for me to put my cards on the table. I knew I ran the risk of getting my heart broken, but then at least I knew where we were standing.

"Stephanie…" He looked… lost.

"Ranger…" I said softly. I slowly walked towards him.

"Do you remember the conversation?" I asked him.

"Yes, I think so…"

"About looking good, taking care and not leaving?" I said, to make sure he was remembering the same conversation.

"Yeah."

"Did you mean what you said?" I looked him in the eye, hoping to ESP him to shut me out again with some lame excuse.

"I was drugged Stephanie."

"Ranger, answer my question! Did you mean it?" Our eyes held for a long time, and I felt myself freeze up with every second that went by. Suddenly he broke eye contact and looked at Lily again, peacefully asleep in his arms. I felt my heart sink. I got up to walk out of the room, so he wouldn't see the tears in my eyes.

"Steph…" he said softly. See, no more babe. I stopped with my back to him.

"Babe, please!"

"What, Ranger?"

"Yes." Yes? Yes what? Wait! Yes, I meant it? Would that be it? Would he be feeling more than just friendship for me too? I turned around and looked at him. His eyes were big brown pools.

"Yes, I did mean it." He repeated, taking away all my doubts. A smile was playing at the corners of his mouth, and I took two steps towards him. I was feeling many feelings, but all good. I was relieved, exhilarated, in love, happy, everything thing you could think of. And I felt playful. I had Ranger in a unique position here, so I wanted to make the most of it. After two steps I stopped and looked at him playfully.

"So, yes, you feel that I always look pretty?" He smiled, realising what I was doing.

"Yes." I took another step in his direction.

"So, yes, you want me to take care of you?" That was a difficult one for him to answer, because he really was a very independent man.

"Yes, when I'm sick." Sweet. I took another step in his direction

"So, yes, you want me to never leave you?" I almost whispered these words. This was the most important question. This was it. Yes meant that he was serious about trying a relationship. But no…


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: Those bloody questions!  
Chapter 8: All's well that ends well…**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: None**  
**Summary: Ranger tells Stephanie how he feels**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine except Aurelia, I just play with them**

**Final chapter and a short one (sorry about that, hope you still like it). Please review! **

_"So, yes, you want me to never leave you?" I almost whispered these words. This was the most important question. This was it. Yes meant that he was serious about trying a relationship. But no…_

**More questions!**

I held my breath. This was it, if he said no, all would be lost. Then it would be friendship only. But if he said yes, then he was essentially saying he wanted to be with me, that he loved me. He looked at me, and time seemed to stand still. I realised that my question put him in a very difficult situation. I mean, there is a lot between exploring a relationship and saying you never want to leave each other. I mean, thinking about it, I basically asked him to marry me! Oh shit, he could only say no! What was I thinking, why did I talk before I thought this through. Damn, damn, damn! I realised that I had been lost in the private whirlwinds that are my thoughts and refocused on Ranger.

"Babe." What! What did that mean? And why did it look like he was thinking about smiling? I tried to look as pissed off as I felt. It didn't seem to work, since Ranger was now definitely smiling.

"Come on, answer my question!" I was getting upset. I had almost poured my heart out and he was laughing?

"Are you saying that you are in love with me?" Oh, the devil! He asked me to show all my cards and he hadn't really given me anything.

"What if I am?" He looked thoughtful for a moment. Then a 2000 watt smile showed on his face.

"That would be the best news I heard in a very long time." My heart jumped. Yes! Time to get him to admit to his feelings a little bit more definite than this word game.

"And how do you feel about me? Are you falling in love with me?" All time seemed to stop

"Yes…, yes I am…" The breath that I was unaware of holding rushed out of me and I felt a huge smile forming on my face.

"You do? You are falling in love with me too?" Oh my, I sounded like a stupid 17 year old!

"Come here." I almost ran the last meter to the bed and our lips met in a long and deep kiss. This felt really good! After a while, could be minutes could be hours, we broke apart and looked deeply into each others' eyes. There was still a lot left unsaid, but this felt really right. The beginning was here, and we would all just have to see how things developed. Just as we wanted to kiss again, Lily made herself heard. We froze as if we were caught, but then had to laugh. Ranger picked up the kitten again and said:

"We better go down again, before Aurelia comes up to save you." I just smiled at him. He grabbed my hand and together we walked down, ready to announce to the world that we were together. Or maybe just his family for now…

The end.

I'm thinking about whether or not I should make a sequel to this. Any comments?


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